Critical theory

BACKGROUND: There are three commonly known philosophical research paradigms used to guide research methods and analysis: positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Being able to justify the decision to adopt or reject a philosophy should be part of the basis of research. It is therefore important to understand these paradigms, their origins and principles, and to decide which is appropriate for a study and inform its design, methodology and analysis. AIM: To help those new to research philosophy by explaining positivism, interpretivism and critical theory...

Often drawing on the phenomenological tradition, a number of philosophers and cognitive scientists working in the field of "embodied cognition" subscribe to the general view that cognition is grounded in aspects of its sensorimotor embodiment and should be comprehended as the result of a dynamic interaction of nonneural and neural processes. After a brief introduction, the paper critically engages Lakoff and Johnson's "conceptual metaphor theory" (CMT), and provides a review of recent empirical evidence that appears to support it...

There is often a divide between moral judgment and moral action; between what we believe we ought to do (or not do) and what we do. Knowledge of this divide is not new, and numerous theories have attempted to offer more robust accounts of ethical decision-making and moral functioning. Knowledge of widespread academic dishonesty among students is also not new, and several studies have revealed that many students report cheating despite believing it is wrong. The present study, involving cross-sectional survey data from a sample of secondary students ( N = 380) in the United States, contributes to the literature on this important area of theory and research by fulfilling three broad purposes...

We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H- W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ∼500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events...

Phase separation in substituted pyridines in water is usually described as an interplay between temperature-driven breakage of hydrogen bonds and the associating interaction of the van der Waals force. In previous quantum-chemical studies, the strength of hydrogen bonding between one water and one pyridine molecules (the 1:1 complex) was assigned a pivotal role. It was accepted that the disassembly of the 1:1 complex at a critical temperature leads to phase separation and formation of the miscibility gap. Yet, for over two decades, notable empirical data and theoretical arguments were presented against that view, thus revealing the need in a revised quantum-mechanical description...

The theory of electric polarization in crystals defines the dipole moment of an insulator in terms of a Berry phase (geometric phase) associated with its electronic ground state. This concept not only solves the long-standing puzzle of how to calculate dipole moments in crystals, but also explains topological band structures in insulators and superconductors, including the quantum anomalous Hall insulator and the quantum spin Hall insulator, as well as quantized adiabatic pumping processes. A recent theoretical study has extended the Berry phase framework to also account for higher electric multipole moments, revealing the existence of higher-order topological phases that have not previously been observed...

Effectively modulating the electronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) system is critical for the application of it in nanoscale devices. In this work, we explore the effect of nanohole on arsenene on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our calculations show that, except slight distortion at the corner of nanohole, geometries of both un-hydrogenated nanohole-embedded arsenene (As-NH) structure and hydrogenated nanohole-embedded arsenene (H-As-NH) structure are kept well after optimization...

Research on learning and education is increasingly influenced by theories of embodied cognition. Several embodiment-based interventions have been empirically investigated, including gesturing, interactive digital media, and bodily activity in general. This review aims to present the most important theoretical foundations of embodied cognition and their application to educational research. Furthermore, we critically review recent research concerning the effectiveness of embodiment interventions and develop a taxonomy to more properly characterize research on embodied cognition...

In the management of heart failure (HF), decongestion is critical for improving clinical outcomes in addition to patients' symptoms. Although physicians accept this theory, there are no established markers for the achievement of optimal decongestion status. Organ congestion, in particular liver and kidney congestion, has recently attracted substantial attention. Ultrasound methods have been introduced for assessing organ congestion, although this is merely a preliminary step. Here, we review the clinical implications of the assessment of organ congestion by ultrasound...

Research based on terror management theory (TMT) has consistently found that reminders to individuals about their mortality engender responses aimed at shoring up faith in their cultural belief system. Previous studies have focused on the critical role that the accessibility of death-related thought plays in these effects. Moreover, it has been shown that these effects occur even when death-related stimuli are presented without awareness, suggesting the unconscious effects of mortality salience. Because one pervasive cultural ideal for men is to be strong, we hypothesized that priming death-related stimuli would lead to increasing physical force for men, but not for women...

OBJECTIVE: to understand the meaning of the university management performed by nurses managers of the nursing undergraduate course of a public university. METHOD: this is a qualitative research, based on the grounded theory. Data collection took place between May and September 2016, with open interviews, in the scenario of a federal public university. The technique of constant comparative analysis of the data was followed, obtaining a theoretical sample with 19 nurses, in two sample groups...

The slip and friction behaviour of n-hexadecane, confined between organic friction modifier (OFM) surfactant films adsorbed on hematite surfaces, have been studied using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. The influence of OFM type and coverage, as well as the applied shear rate and pressure have been investigated. A measurable slip length is only observed for OFM films with a high surface coverage, which provide smooth interfaces between well-defined OFM and hexadecane layers. Slip commences above a critical shear rate, beyond which the slip length first increases with increasing shear rate and then asymptotes towards a constant value...

OBJECTIVE: The current article set out to review all research conducted to date investigating prospective memory (PM) in autism. METHOD: All studies on PM in autism are first described, followed by a critical review and discussion of experimental findings within the multiprocess framework. PM in autism is then considered through an embodied predictive-coding account of autism. RESULTS: Overall, despite somewhat inconsistent methodologies, a general deficit in PM in autism is observed, with evidence mostly in line with the multiprocess framework...

We have designed a novel nanobiosensor for in silico detecting proteins based on leucine/Pd-loaded single-walled carbon nanotube matrix. Density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G (d) level of theory was realized to analyze the geometrical and electronic structure of the proposed nanobiosensor. The solvent effects were investigated using the Tomasi's polarized continuum model. Atoms-in-molecules theory was used to study the nature of interactions by calculating the electron density ρ(r) and Laplacian at the bond critical points...

INTRODUCTION: The relationship between preceptor and trainee is becoming recognized as a critical component of teaching, in particular in the negotiation of feedback and in the formation of professional identity. This paper elaborates on the nature of the relationships between preceptor and student that evolve in the context of rural longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs). METHODS: We drew on constructivist grounded theory for the research approach. We interviewed nine LIC family practice preceptors from three sites at one educational institution...

Microbes play a critical role in soil global biogeochemical circulation and microbe-microbe interactions have also evoked enormous interests in recent years. Utilization of green manures can stimulate microbial activity and affect microbial composition and diversity. However, few studies focus on the microbial interactions or detect the key functional members in communities. With the advances of metagenomic technologies, network analysis has been used as a powerful tool to detect robust interactions between microbial members...

Anisotropic surface properties of minerals play an important role in a variety of fields. With a focus on the two most intensively investigated silicate minerals (i.e., phyllosilicate minerals and pegmatite aluminosilicate minerals), this review highlights the research on their anisotropic surface properties based on their crystal structures. Four surface features comprise the anisotropic surface chemistry of minerals: broken bonds, energy, wettability, and charge. Analysis of surface broken bond and energy anisotropy helps to explain the cleavage and growth properties of mineral crystals, and understanding surface wettability and charge anisotropy is critical to the analysis of minerals' solution behavior, such as their flotation performance and rheological properties...

It is well known that superconductivity in thin films is generally suppressed with decreasing thickness. This suppression is normally governed by either disorder-induced localization of Cooper pairs, weakening of Coulomb screening, or generation and unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs as described by the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) theory. Defying general expectations, few-layer NbSe2 - an archetypal example of ultrathin superconductors - has been found to remain superconducting down to monolayer thickness...

As technology becomes increasingly integrated with education, research on the relationships between students' computing-related emotions and motivation following technological difficulties is critical to improving learning experiences. Following from Weiner's (2010) attribution theory of achievement motivation, the present research examined relationships between causal attributions and emotions concerning academic computing difficulties in two studies. Study samples consisted of North American university students enrolled in both traditional and online universities (total N = 559) who responded to either hypothetical scenarios or experimental manipulations involving technological challenges experienced in academic settings...